1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for continuously reproducing plural sound data, and a method and an apparatus for creating plural sound data for the purpose of continuous reproduction. More particularly, the invention relates to an improved sound reproduction technique for continuously reproducing realistic environmental sound such as sound of hustle and bustle, chirping of small birds, background music or the like, with as small sound source data as possible.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In various amusement apparatuses and facilities, environmental sound is indispensable for producing atmosphere. There is a technique that, in reproducing such environmental sound for a predetermined duration, in order to minimize the amount of data forming the sound source, short sound data are repeatedly read out to give an impression that continuous sounds were reproduced.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a conventional system constitution for continuously reproducing the plural sound data. The system is provided with a reproduction process unit 51, a terminal end determination unit 52, a data output unit 53, and a reproduction unit 54. In the case of continuous reproduction of continued sound data, the reproduction process unit 51 repeats the process of reading the sound data to be reproduced, and writing said sound data to the data output unit 53. Further, the sound data written to if the data output unit 53 are outputted to the reproduction unit 54 such as a speaker. In such sequential processes, the position of the sound data read by the reproduction process unit 51 in the whole data is monitored by the terminal end determination unit 52. When the position reaches the terminal end of certain sound data, a terminal end signal is sent from the terminal end determination unit 52 to the reproduction process unit 51 and reading and writing of the next sound data are carried out. In this manner, the plural sound data are continuously reproduced. FIG. 2 is a conceptual view showing the reproduction condition of the continuous sound data in the conventional case.
The continuous sound data may be the sound data of the same kind or the sound data of different kinds. In the case of the sound data of the same kind, reading and writing are performed on the same sound data and the same sound data are to be repeatedly reproduced.
In the conventional system as described above, the system simply reads the beginning end of the next sound data after reading the terminal end of the previous sound data in reproducing plural sound data continuously. Accordingly, there may be cases in which discontinuity occurs at the juncture between the terminal end of the previous sound data and the beginning end of the next sound data. Thus, a noise like a click sound can be generated, thereby giving discomfort to the listeners.